Indian Express: Credit cards - convenience at the helm (6 July 1992, p. 13):

diners club taken over by citibank by 1992

Credit cards issue din the country can be classified into two categories

1. Cards issued to indian nationals who hold a blanket foreign exchange permit
2. card issued for use within the country

customer signs copy of the bill which merchant sends to issuing agency which is ultimately sent to the holder to make the payment

Crucial datapoints:

• ALmost all banks take an annual service charge from the user
• some banks charge an entrance fee for membership
• usual billing cycle upto one month
• credit facility on “revolving terms” available
• most credit cards allow cas withdrawal a few times every month
• misuse of cards is a major problem and the most common malpractice is forgery. signature on the card largely the only mode of identification of the card holder, it is often impossible to place a forgery if it is close to the original

Early entrants:

• Central bank of India (Centralcard): 1980
• Andhra Bank (Andhra Card): 1981 (check)
• Bank of Baroda (BoB card): 1984 (check)
• Vijaya Bank: 1987 (check)
• Canara Bank (CanCard): 1988 (check)
• Bank of India (IndiaCard): 1988 (check)

Andhra Bank:

• classic and gold - visa
• charge card - mastercard, giving flexibility for an income group ranging from 4k p.m to 1Lakh p.a goodies:
• cash advance
• cheque discounting
• accidental death insurance cover, free of cost, ranging from 50k to 1 lakh
• add-on, spouse or major dependent children

Vijaya Bank:

• has fortnightly billing
• Affiliated to Visa and Mastercard
• Middle Income: Classic Visa Card, Silver Mastercard
• Affluent group: Premium? Gold Mastercard
• goodies:
  1. add-on card
  2. 24 hour cash withdrawal from ATM
  3. personal accident insurance cover
  4. has corporate cards
  5. issues internationally valid cards

Indian Express: Cashing in on Consumerism (5 July 1993, p. 12)

Major players at this point:

• Citibank DIners club, visa, credit card
• bank of baroda mastercard
• anz grindlays credit and visa cards
• state bank of india’s credit card
• bank of india’s indiacard, taj premium card, atm card

Merchants At this time airlines, railways, car rentals, petrol pumps, shops, hotels, restaurants, departmental stores, hospitals

• most cards more or less the same, differing on the amount of moeny that can be withdrawn at a time and the service that is provided by the bank

Hongkong credit card:

• launched credit card in early 1992
• serves existing bank customers who fit into predefined customer profile
• minimum of 10% of monthly dues
• remaining balance is carried forward at a monthly interest rate of 2.5%

NOTE: Bank of India was the first nationalized bank to introduce the ATM

novel concept: chip based BTM cash card

The Indian Express 27 Dec 1987 - Vysya bank credit card Ad

• “This New Year, Vysya Bank raises the curtain for a world of convenience with Credit Cards”
• credit card advertising started by Dec 1987
• indian airlines accepting centralcard
• 6500 centralcard MEs throughout India and Nepal
• 25000 centralcard cardholders

The Indian Express 26 Jan 1988 - Vijaya Bank card launch

• T.T. Vasu was first cardholder
• associated with visa
• individual, corporate and add-on cards offered

Times of India - DBS Executive center Ad, 20 Jan 1981: p. 7

• Diners club ME: 2500 across India and Nepal: hotels, restaurants, airlines!!, travel agents, shops, boutiques and car hire agencies
• Annual Fee (Including ‘Signature’ Magazine): 200Rs.
• One time Entrance Fee (joining fee): 300Rs.
• Address: Diners Club (India) Pvt. Ltd., Raheja Chambers, 213 Nariman Point, Bombay 400021, Phone: 244949, Telex: 011-5917, Gram: DINCLUB

Times of India - Andhra Bancard Indian Airlines tie up ad, i have pic in download, 05 Nov 1982: p. 21

TOI, 16 Sep 1972: 6

talks of electronic authz experiment in ohio

TOI, 16 Sep 1976: 8

talks of electronic POS systems made by inspiration from apollo

TOI - HDFC Bank launches payment gateway for B2C transactions, 12 May 2000: 19 (on thursday launched)

TOI - 01 Nov 2001: A3

visa electron debit card lottery ad

TOI - Diners Club’s new credit card, 06 Sep 1986: p. 13

• Bombay sept 5: diners club introduces the international card aimed at the business traveler abroad
• made possible due to the recently announced RBI scheme which allows blanket permitholders to be issued with internaitonal cards.
• “international business travelers will now be able to avail of the credit card for the purchase of / the new credit card covers all facets of business travel like airline tickets, hotel accomodation, entertaining clients, car rentals and the use of telephone, telex, secretarial and other business related services.”
• diners club operating in 150 countries, dealing in 55 currencies
• will fulfill the ling awaited need of the frequent business traveller for the convenience of credit facilities abroad.

TOI - Central Bank’s new credit card, 27 Oct 1986: p. 13

• Launched international centralcard in Bombay on 26 oct
• brought out in collaboration with mastercard internaational inc.
• about 2,000 blanket permitholders in the form of corporate bodies in bombay alone and an equal amount over the restof the country.

Business line, chennai, July 4 2002

MUMBAI, July 3. HDFC Bank launched its International Gold Credit Card here on Wednesday. The gold card has higher limits over the silver card that was launched in February.

The gold card enables one to withdraw cash up to 40 per cent of the credit limit, said Ms Uma Ratnam Krishnan, Country Head, Retail Branch Banking and Credit Cards, HDFC Bank.

“We are aiming at the affluent segment, the middle and upper middle classes,” said Mr Aditya Puri, Managing Director, HDFC Bank.

Businessline; Chennai (May 22, 2002): page 1

HYDERABAD, May 21. HDFC Bank, the private sector bank promoted by the Housing Development Finance Corporation, has launched its new Silver Credit Card in Hyderabad.

TOI - 28 Nov 1986: p. 18

RBI has announced the introduction of an international credit card facility. the facility however would be on a limited scale and cover firms and companies holding valid blanket exchange permits issued under either RBI scheme or ITC scheme

• came after requests from firms and companies engaged in international bsuiness to permit their representatives to avail of the international credit card facility.

TOI - CHARGE IT!, Neeta Lal, 23 Jan 1988: A2

• credit card commision ranges from 2 to 6 percent
• Diners club 7,000 members in 1976 -> 77,000 in 1987

• Criteria: Either annual income of 60,000 or assets worth 1.5 lakh apart from the above, members are screened “for their credit worthiness, the ability to spend and the intention to pay back”

• membership to diners club international card is even more prohibitive since “it only covers exporters with the RBI blanket exchange permit”
• screening can take upto 5 weeks
• enrolment fee of rs. 1,350
• card bears name, number and signature, to be renewed after every 2 years
• a directory with the names and addresses of centres where the card is honoured accompanies the card.
• On using this facility, the member gets a charge slip from the point of sale, finally receiving a consolidated monthly bill of his expenses and credit from the club to be paid within 15 days of ita acceptance, failing which a 2 percent interest is levied.
• WHile the card gives “unlimited spending power” to its holders, establishments honouring the card have to restrict themselves to their floor limits varying from rs 1,000 to 15,000 a day per card according to the nature of the trade.

• Diners club gets 6 percent commision on the monthly billing of each establishment where the buyer makes the purchase

• Central card threw open its membership to all account holders with a monthly income of rs. 3,000
• 5,000 members in 1980 to 30,000 now (doubt both figures)
• In 1985, the bank introduced master card, by entering into a tie-up with mastercard internaional. though its membership is restricted to NRIs and foreign nationals. the card has a metallic strip which when placed in a computer will in 3 seconds connect itself to the Master Card authorization network thus reducing the risk of fraud and counterfeit. [doubt the date, wasn’t the tie up in 1982?]
• no set restrictions on expenditure for the individuals, “crediting” is 1,500 for a retailer and 15,000 for big merchants without the bank’s permission
• If a card is lost or misplaced, members immediately inform the bank, which in turn notifies all its establishments through a hotline and the card gets “hotlisted”.

• As per latest central bank hotlist bulletin, no. of lost domestic cards stood at 1,500, mastercard totalled over a lakh.

• At andhra bank, the fact that “you don’t have to be an account holder to merit the card”, has drawn over 41,000 members at the highest among banks.
• An adult earning 3,000 a month and a company with a paid up capital of Rs. 5 lakhs is eligibility enough for its bancard
• However the membership for its visa gold card is more selective as it covers individuals with an income of over Rs. 60,000 per annum of (or?) those depositing a bank guarantee of rs. 30,000.
• Since there is no ceiling on expenditure, it is not uncommon for billings to overflow rs. 50,000.
• Here the novel feature is its personal travel accident insurance which offers a 24-hour insurance from the moment one becomes a member, “unlike other schemes which offer insurance only if the cardholder purchases an airline ticket.”
• the bank also offers a cash withdrawal facility against cards - honoured cheques upto rs. 60,000 per month at any of its branches with an immediate cash withdrawal of rs. 2,000 against a 2 percent servcie charge.

• 7,000 members in 1981

• State bank of India has preferred to back a variant of the credit card - that is a cheque card.
• In fact they are cheque guarantee cards used as identity cards by those customers who want to pay shops cheques instead of cash

• The cheque cards guarantee that the customer has enough of a balance in his account

• among the latest to jump onto the credit card bandwagon is Bank of Baroda with its BobCard

TOI - Diners club Ad, 11 Aug 1988: p. 17

• card made of plastic, measures 2” x 3”
• buys airline ticket, pays for hotel room, picks up your restaurant bills and shopping tab
• offers discounts upto 40% at select hotels in india and abroad

TOI - assets/images/credit-card-chronology/centralcard_international_ad_toi_31_oct_1986_p9.png, 31 Oct 1986: p. 9

• In the platinum jubilee year of Central Bnak of India, Centalcard goes international

TOI - Diners club ad, 25 Feb 1980: p. 5

• 16 international airlines honour the diners club card
• Air India included in the airlines honoring the card
• free travel accident insurance upto 1 lakh
• sign and carry credit at over 2,000 establishments in India and Nepal
• once a month billing, single cheque payment
• Annual subscription including ‘Signature’ magazine: Rs. 156
• Entrance fee: Rs. 250 -> total Rs. 406

TOI - p. 14, assets/images/credit-card-chronology/vijaya_bank_launch_ad.png

TOI - Diners club ad, 28 Nov 1982: p. 5

• 45 days of interest free credit
• 5000 establishments in 135 cities across India and Nepal
• Honoured by 24 international airlines and 38 stations of Indian Airlines (in general, not the specific airline named as such, so it includes air india too presumably)
• Rs 634, combined entrance and annual fee

TOI - Grindlays visa credit cards, 20 Mar 1989: p. 15

• grindlays bank launched its visa credit last month (feb 1989) [corroborated, there is an ad in TOI dated 20 Feb 1989 on page 19, Introducing Grindlays Visa Classic Card, but the date is not the launch date perhaps, just mention month and year]
• visa cardholders can avail existing visa merchant network in india
• foreign exchange earnings for india expected to increase due to the tie up with visa
• the card imed at generous cash withdrawal at any of its 56 branches, the option of deferred payments, usage at growing number of merchant outlets (presently 7000) and eventual use of ATMs

TOI - standard chartered instabuys ad, 14 Jan 1999: p. 17

• Standard Chartered was the first bank to introduce a photocard in India

TOI - Citibank launches ‘corporate card’, 06 Feb 1991: p. 15

• Citibank took over Indian operations of Diners club in May 1990, bought over from Mr. S.S Agarwal

TOI - An ace of a strategy, 10 Mar 1991: p. 14

• 100K plastic accepting merchant establishments in India
• The tie-ups indian cards have with visa and mastercard stipulate that once an indian card sporting these tieups enlist a ME, he becomes a visa or mastercard merchant and has to accept any card with these logos.
• effectively card issuers can’t have tie-ups with an ME on an exclusive basis
• On average, the MEs pay CitiBank a commission of around 3 percent for the value of goods or services purchased by cardholders

TOI - Playing one’s cards right, 26 July 1992: p. 16

• Canara Bank introduced credit cards in 1987
• Over 8 Indian Banks have launched credit card schemes
• ANZ grindlays being the first foreign bank to launch a domestic card in 1989
• By and large most banks both Indian and foreign offer the same facilities - instalment payment plans with a down payment of 10%, cash withdrawal facility and flexible spending limits
• foreign banks charge high enrolment fees to card holders while most Indian cards are free or charge a nominal fee
• Bank of Baroda charges merchants 4 percent discount
• Bank of Baroda BoB card was unaffiliated to either visa or mastercard at launch. Its latest BoB exclusive has incorporated the mastercard logo
• While MEs claim the money from the Indian bank, the bank in turn claims the dues from Visa, which in turn claims it from the concerned foreign bank.

TOI - Card Sharp, 23 Oct 1993: p. A5

• American express the latest entrant in June 1993
• 20 banks issuing mastercard in india
• credit cards referred to as “passports of consumerism”

TOI - Credit card system picking up, 27 Nov 1987: p. 10

• 4 Nationalized banks providng this service - Central bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of baroda, canara bank

TOI - A creditable venture - Gauri Lankesh, 30 Jan 1987: p. 20

• Over 1.5 lakh credit card holders in the country

• one of the reasons for slow uptake of credit cards in the country is the aversion towards having debts of any kind (mention do beegha zameen)

• American express the most popular among member establishments as it is widely circulated and the payments are made within a week’s time
• In august 1986 RBI allowed indian’s to carry international cards. only firms holding blanket exchange permits allowed to make use of this facility.

• American express was the first to launch an international card in India. Though the bank has gold and platinum cards, it is not issued in the country.

• Banks charge compound interest on unpaid dues (this was supposedly different from and before revolving credit, more like a penalty)

• Andhra Bank launched its “Andhra Bancard” in 1981. It has 30,000 cardholders and 6k member establishments
• also announced its international card in collaboration with visa.

• Andhra bank will introduce a gold card in a couple of months. This will be the first gold card in the country.

• Diners club has a membership of over 70,000

• Central bank has over 24,000 cardholders
• Its mastercard issued only to foreigners

• the bank has also launched its international central card

• Bank of Baroda Bobcard launched in 1986 (doubt), it has 8,000 cardholders and 1,600 member establishments

• Mercard was launched by mercantile credit corporation, date not mentioned, has 34,000 card holders

• Indian credit cards are valid in India and Nepal

• All the card issuing organizations have tie ups with the international credit card prganizations and hence the international cards used by foreign tourists are accepted by the member establishments which honour the respective indian cards.

TOI - Bank of Baroda launches VISA, 22 Mar 1989: p. 14

• Bank of Baroda launched its VISA operations in Bombay on tuesday (21 march? 20 march? check)
• Servicing visa cardholders visiting india would enable the bank to earn valuable foreign exchange.

TOI - Vijaya Bank’s credit card, 13 Jan 1988: p. 10

• Vijaya Bank launched its credit card scheme in Bombay on tuesday (12 jan? 11 jan? check)
• Like the credit card launched by andhra bank, vijaya bank’s card will also have a tie-up with Visa International.
• unlike andhra bank as well as four other public sector bank, vijaya bank’s credit card has a membership fee of rs. 100 per annum and in addition, rs. 100 towards admission fee. Most other banks charge a membership fee of only rs. 50 per annum (that also if annual billings against the card are less than rs. 3000) without charging any entrance/admission fee.

TOI - Bright prospects for bank credit cards, 18 Feb 1988, p. 11

• An association of an Indian Bank with a foreign credit card agency proves useful to the Indian bank since it can earn foreign exchange by way of commission and service charges through encashment of credit cards issued by overseas agancies.

• Bank of Baroda BOBCARD launched in September 1985 (seems most authoritative)
• over 15,000 BOBCARD holders, 2,200 merchant establishments.
• Indian Airlines (the individual airline named such) honours the card for purchase of tickets.
• Bank of baroda has joined visa international as a principal member (date not mentioned)

TOI - Andhra Bank pact with Mastercard, 06 May 1988: p. 20

• Andhar bank signed an agreement on tuesday (which date? check) with mastercard international, u.s.a., by which andhar bank has become a principal member of mastercard in india.
• andhra bank is already a principal member of visa international, as per the agreement signed in 1981
• as a principal member, andhra bank will be servicing the usage of mastercards brought by visiting tourists while visiting India and used for purchase of goods and services.

TOI - Canara Bank’s progress after Cancard facility, 20 Oct 1988: p. 10

• Canara bank launched ‘Cancard’ in 1987
• currently 50,000 cardholders and 5,000 member establishments across India and nepal.
• no membership fee, no renewal fee
• offers add-on facility to eligible family members of the individual cardholders.
• bank is in process of tying up with two international credit card organizations (visa and mstercard) to serve the needs of foreign tourists in India and Indian travellers going abroad with unrestricted exchange permits.

TOI - Diners Club franchise for Citibank, 25 May 1990: p. 15

• Citibank and diners club pvt. ltd. have agreed on the transfer of the diners club franchise to citibank. this was announced at the press conference in bombay on wednesday (which date? check)

TOI - Credit card system urged, 03 Nov 1979: p. 15

• diners’ club cards issued to Indians today are valid only within the country

TOI - Diners club Ad, 06 Nov 1978: p. 5

• over 2,000 members establishments
• 12,000 cardholders
• In november 1959, Mr. Kali Mody, a noted Bombay businessman, bought the franchise from Diners Club International to start operations for establishing Diners club India.
• In 1976, the Indian operation was placed in the hands of the Aggarwal family.
• Mr. Shamsunder Aggarwal is the current managing director, has been a director of diners club india since 1969
• members are charged an entrance fee of rs. 250 and annual fee of rs. 124
• ‘Signature’ magazine in India offers each member establishment free publicity, directory listing and spotlighting in the news.
• card made of plastic

TOI - Diners Club 25 years Ad, 02 Mar 1984: p. 13

• 1960 - Kali mody brings diners club to India
• 1977 - SIGNATURE magazine opens vistas in travel and entertainment
• 1979 - Diners club office moves to Nariman point.

• 1980 - Diners Business Services opens its doors in Bombay, 1981 in Delhi, 1982 in Madras and Calcutta, 1983 in Bangalore

• 1981 - Citicorp owns Diners Club International

• 1983 - Diners club enters the computer age

• Diners Business Services have 5 offices in India, 13 abroad that DBS members can use.

• Kali mody is diners club member no. 1, others among the first fifteen are Mrs. Nina Mody, Jimmy Lawyer, Mrs. Siloo Lawyer, Dhiraj Parikh, Ratan Mama, Mrs. Vina Mody, Pessumal Aswani, Hasmukh Chanchani, all from Bombay; Ashok Krishandas, Baroda; Mahavir Gupta, Chandigarh; Surinder Diwan, Shivpuri; P.S. Kalani, Indore; Chandrakant Worah and Kanubhai Patel, Calcutta

• Among the first fifteen member establishments are: Taj Mahal Hotel, Gazdar Private Ltd, Philips & Co., Ahmed Joo, Gaylord Restaurant, Hotel Mount View, Clarks Hotel, Oberoi Palace, Oberoi Maidens, Oberoi Grand, Oberoi Mount Everest, Burlingtons, Gems Co and Banaras House.

• 50,000 cardholders

• 6,500 member establishments spread over India and Nepal

• signature is a monthly magazine, it covers the most exotic and exciting cities of the world, eating houses, hotels - even gives you shopping tips.

TOI - assets/images/credit-card-chronology/diners_club_strike_toi_3_jan_1986_p9.png

TOI - Diners Club Ad, 14 Mar 1979: p. 11

• Diners club address: 50, Vir Nariman Road, Dady House, Bombay 400023
• 2,000 member establishments across India and Nepal

TOI - Diners Club Ad, 10 Nov 1960: p. 3

• About 300 affiliated member establishments across 30 cities (if I counted it correctly) in India. WIth majority being in Bombay followed by Delhi
• Name written as “Diners’ Club”
• Address: Vulcan Insurance building, Vir Nariman Road, Bombay 1., phone no.: 243642, gram: “DINCLUB”

TOI - Diners Club Ad, 28 June 1961: p. 9

• What diners club has achieved in its first year in India:
• Over 600 affiliated establishments all over India
• Indian membership of over 2,300 selected members
• annual fee of Rs 30/-
• ONE bill a month, itemised, dated
• Address: Vulcan Insurance Building, Veer Nariman Rd., Churchgate, Bombay-1, ph. no. 243642, gram: “DINCLUB”

TOI - Visa Ad, 05 June 1992: p. 16

Cardholders or merchants contact these banks: A. For merchants and cardholders

• ANZ Grindlays Bank
• Andhra Bank
• Canara Bank
• Citibank
• HONGKONG Bank
• Standard Chartered Bank
• Vijaya Bank

B. For merchants only

• Bank of America
• Bank of Baroda
• Central Bank of India

TOI - ANZ Grindlays Silver card Ad, 24 May 1995: p. 9

• ANZ Grindlays bank was the first to offer “revolving credit” in India
• Option of paying 10% (or more) of monthly bill
• ANZ Grindlays silver card eligibility:
• Gross annual income above Rs. 84,000
• ATleast 21 years of age
• You don’t have to be anz grindlays bank account holder

TOI - assets/images/credit-card-chronology/grindlays_revolving_credit_ad_toi_2_nov_1989_p12.png

TOI - assets/images/credit-card-chronology/andhra_bank_launch_ad_toi_10_july_1981.png

HDFC

December 2001 — HDFC Bank soft-launched its credit-card business in Chennai, marking its entry into the credit-card market. source: https://companiesmarketcap.com/hdfc-bank/sec-reports-20f/0001145549-03-001245/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

TOI - Business Digest , 21 Dec 2001: p. 15

• Chennai: HDFC Bank Ltd has launched its international silver credit card, from Visa, thereby completing its array of loan products

Oldest known ad: assets/images/credit-card-chronology/hdfc_bank_credit_card_ad_toi_13_oct_2002_p7.png